Total Pro Sports
ESPN personality Chris “Mad Dog” Russo had something to say about ESPN while blaming Stephen A Smith for what happened at the studio this week.
Russo let Stephen A. have it after ESPN’s First Take studio lost power, forcing the show to move to the hallway.
“We lost power,” host Molly Qerim announced to the audience coming back from a commercial break.
“So, Mad Dog, tell us why you’re mad?”
That is when Russo launched into his tirade, saying, “If they didn’t pay Stephen A. $400 million, maybe they could pay their freakin’ bills, ESPN!”
“I mean, goodness gracious, how dare you squeeze me and stick me in a hallway with lights from 2000.
“Look at that, I don’t like that!”
The First Take studio lost its power, forcing Chris "Mad Dog" Russo to do his segment in the hallway.
"If they didn't pay Stephen A. $400 million, maybe they could pay their freakin' bills, ESPN." pic.twitter.com/ddTd3vIK0b
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 28, 2025
“You took me away from my sight all because you have to pay him $150 million, guaranteed,” Russo said about Stephen A Smith’s deal.
Qerim and Smith could do nothing but laugh during the segment.
What Stephen A. Smith wants, Stephen A. Smith will surely get.
The network agreed to sign the 57-year-old “First Take” host to a new five-year contract worth at least $100 million in March of this year.
As The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand first reported, Smith became ESPN’s highest-paid personality ever. He was coming off a deal that paid him $12 million per year.
Smith has been a mainstay at ESPN since he joined the network in 2003.
Smith will continue to be a fixture on ESPN’s daily flagship morning show, but he could also be seen on “SportsCenter” to the NBA Finals and “Monday Night Football.”
Stephen A Smith’s new deal puts him over Pat McAfee, who earns more than $17 million per year in a licensing deal with ESPN.
